Study
How many flowering plants are pollinated by animals?
Ollerton, Jeff; Winfree, Rachael; Tarrant, Sam
Oikos, 2011
Published community-level surveys recording pollination mode were assembled across tropical and temperate regions, and used to estimate the global proportion of flowering plant species dependent on animal pollination.
- Studied in
- Angiospermae
- Sample size
- community-level pollination datasets across latitudes
About 87.5% of flowering plant species are animal-pollinated, rising towards 94% in tropical communities and falling to around 78% in temperate ones. The remainder are wind- or water-pollinated, and those species include most of the world’s staple cereals.
What it means
The authors' reading, and ours. Where they differ, that difference is the point.
How the authors put it
Animal pollination is the majority condition among flowering plants, with a clear latitudinal gradient.
How NatureHQ reads it
This is the number that lets NatureHQ correct two opposite errors at once. Animal pollination really is the majority case, so dismissing pollinator decline is wrong. And wheat, rice and maize are wind-pollinated, so "bees make a third of our food" needs care and "without bees we would starve" is not what the figure says. The gradient also matters: a temperate reader’s intuition is drawn from the least animal-pollinated flora on the planet.
- Community surveys are unevenly distributed geographically.
- Species counts, not abundance or crop yield, which behave differently.
- "Animal-pollinated" spans obligate dependence and marginal benefit.
What this study is used for on NatureHQ
One study can inform several subjects. Here is everywhere this one is cited.
Published by: Wiley journalsPublished in a Wiley journal.
doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0706.2010.18644.x
This reference was resolved automatically against Crossref on 2026-08-11.
NatureHQ summarises research in its own words and does not reproduce published text. Reviewed 2026-08-10.